The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar (1999 Henze), book
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The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar: The Ancient Near Eastern Origins and Early History of Interpretation of Daniel 4 (1999) is a book by Matthias Henze.
Abstract
"In the mythic lore of the Ancient Near East, the trope of animalization contains a wealth of interpretive potential. The account of Nebuchadnezzar's madness in Daniel 4, the most potent example of this mythic trope in the Hebrew Bible, has provoked much fanciful elaboration among early biblical interpreters. After a study of the many ancient variants of the ubiquitous tale, the book investigates the Ancient Near Eastern background of Nebuchadnezzar's transformation. The discussion then turns to the early reception of Daniel 4 in rabbinic Judaism, the Western Fathers and, most importantly, the Syriac tradition. A number of Syriac texts from the fourth century onward explicitly draw on the model of Nebuchadnezzar as the basis for a newly evolving ascetic discipline."--Publisher description.
Editions
Published in Leiden: Brill, 1999 (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 61).
Contents
- Introduction
- 1. The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar: The Literary History of Legend
- 2. The Babylonian Prehistory of Nebuchadnezzar's Madness
- 3. To the Bottom of the Pit: Nebuchadnezzar's Madness in Early Rabbinic Exegesis
- 4. From Divine Disgrace to Exemplary Penitence: Nebuchadnezzar's Madness in Early Syriac Literature
- Excursus: Nebuchadnezzar's Madness in the Christian West: Hippolytus of Rome and Tertullian
- Conclusion and Epilogue
- Appendix I: Daniel at Qumran
- Authoritative Literature at Qumran: The Case of Daniel
- Appendix II: Daniel 4 in the MT and the Old Greek
- Appendix III: Jacob of Serug (451-521). A Homily on Daniel 4
Reviews
- 2002 - Review of Biblical Literature / Bob Becking / (online)